March 18, 2011

Camera-shy Austin man uses skateboard in assault

Two men in Austin were arrested this week, one accused of using a skateboard as a weapon to assault a man trying to take a photo of a triple mohawk haircut.

The Statesman reports that a man had been snapping photos of "anything that was remotely interesting or unusual" when he photographed Johnathan Washburn, 23, the wearer of said mohawk. This apparently did not sit well with Washburn and Timothy Beard, 19.

Beard told the man to erase the photo and the man refused. Beard then took his $100 pair of Oakley sunglasses and when the man tried to get them back, Washburn hit him in the head with the skateboard.

Police caught up with Washburn at a nearby bar and Beard was found with the sunglasses across the street.

Both men remained in a Travis County jail Thursday afternoon. Washburn has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, while Beard has been charged with theft from a person.

Some commentators on the story have mentioned this as an example of the "Streisand Effect," a term that refers to an unsuccessful lawsuit brought by Barbra Streisand in 2003 to keep some photos of her California home private.

The lawsuit backfired when the case attracted more of the public's attention to the pictures. Soon more than 420,000 people visited the site where the pictures were shown.

By assaulting a man to avoid having anyone see some photos of him, Washburn attracted more attention to his haircut via a mugshot in a widely-read news website.